Chords for Lightnin' Hopkins - Mr. Charlie

Once in the country, there was a little boy.
He was wandering away from his place that he was living.
He didn't have no mother, neither no father. _
So he decided he would try to get out on his own
because he figured that the people that he was around with
that was a little too cruel to him.
_ So a little kid, he wanted to see some parts of the world,
and he decided he would start out on his own.
So he left his home, what he would call a home,
and he goes traveling.
He travels for miles and miles,
traveled a good piece from the place that he was located.
_ So he run across a rolling mill.
In fact, it was a sawmill,
but they called it a rolling mill at that time
because they'd roll the logs down the hill,
put them on the trowel and roll them on down,
and they would cut the first off
and throw it in the junkyard and let it burn.
So Mr.
Charlie, he had a shack behind his mill,
so he didn't have anything to be in that shack
unless somebody stayed.
The little boy walked up there, and he stood looking lonesome and alone. _
_ So Mr.
Charlie said, Boy, what you doing here?
He said, Me, me, me, me, me don't have no home.
Mr.
Charlie said, Well, wait a minute, I'm busy now.
Mr.
Charlie went on and looked at things that he was supposed to do.
He looked, the poor little boy was standing in the same position.
He came back there and said, Boy, can you work?
Me, me can work.
_ He said, Well, I tell you what,
by you not having no home, I got a shack back there.
He said, If you will stay in that shack
and keep this fire off of my cured lumber
and keep it from burning my mill burning down,
he said, I'll give you a home here as long as I got a mill.
Thank you, Mr.
Charlie, and so on.
Mr.
Charlie carried him back there and showed him where that he could live.
So the little boy was happy with his home.
Mr.
Charlie lived a few blocks from there,
a factory, a business, but it wasn't too far that the little boy could run to the house.
_ So on Sundays they don't work, but they still got that there.
So we burned away, you know what I mean?
And so the little boy, he was inside of his little bunk that morning,
and he looked out and he see that the rolling mill had caught a fire.
The little boy went to run it.
He run all the way.
He didn't stop because he was trying to prove that he mean to do the thing that Mr.
Charlie asked him to.
_ So when he got there, Mr.
Charlie was busy doing a little something else.
What it was, the little boy don't know, and I don't either, _ _
[E] _ [Eb] but he was busy.
_ So he patted Mr.
Charlie on the back.
He said, _ Mr. _ _
Charlie.
_ _ Mr.
Charlie straightened up and looked at him and said, Boy, what you want?
He said, _ _ _ Well, wait a minute.
He said, I got something to do.
You tell me later. _
Mr.
Charlie turned around and he began doing what he was doing.
The little boy wanted to let him know that it was his time to go.
He patted him on his back.
No sooner than Mr.
Charlie stooped over and said, _ _ Mr.
Charlie.
Mr.
Charlie straightened up and said, Boy, you trying to tell me something.
He said, Now, if you can't talk, let's just sing it.
And he said, _ _ Whoa, _ _ _ Mr.
Charlie, _ _ _
_ [Db] _ [Ab] _ [Abm] _ _ _ _
your [Eb] rolling mill is burning down. _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [Abm] _
Whoa, Mr.
Charlie, _ _ _ [Ab] your rolling mill [Eb] is burning down. _ _
_ [Ab] _ [Eb] _ _ _ _ He said, I ain't [Bb] got no water, Mr.
Charlie.
He said, You ain't got none.
[Ebm] _ [Ab]
Just let the rolling mill [Eb] burn on down. _ _
_ _ _ _ [Ab] _ [Eb] _ _ _
_ Mr.
Charlie said, Boy, [Gb] _ _ [Eb]
if there ain't no water [Ebm] around,
_ poke your head out the window and let that old rolling mill burn on down.
[Ab] He said, Mr.
Charlie, _ _ _ do [Eb] you know your rolling mill is burning down? _ _ _
[Ab] _ [Eb] _ _ _ _ He says, [Bb] I can't help you.
I can't help you.
[Ab] _ _ Mr.
Charlie, there [Eb] ain't no water around. _ _ _ _
_ _ [Db] _ [Eb] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [Ab] _ [Gb] _ [Eb] _
_ _ _ _ [Ab] _ [Eb] _ _ _
_ The little boy said, Mr.
Charlie, [Ebm] _ _ [Eb]
now don't you see,
[Gb] _ [Eb] _ if the mill's burning down, that's almost the last of me. _
Mr.
Charlie said, Don't you worry, _ [C] son, listen to [Eb] me.
_ If the old mill's burning down, I'm going to give you another home.
Whoa, somewhere with me, Mr.
[Abm] Charlie, _ _ _ _ _ _ your rolling mill is [Eb] burning down.
_ [Ebm] _ _ _
_ [Eb] _ _ _ _ He said, [Bb] Just poke your head out the window _ [Ab] _ and [Ebm] let that old [Eb] rolling mill burn down.
_ _ The little boy couldn't help but cry. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [Cm] _ _ _ _
_ _ Whoa, _ _ _ [Eb] _
_ _ _ [A] _ [Ab] _ [Eb] _ _ [Bb] _
[Eb] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Mr.
Charlie, _ [Abm] _ _ _ _ _
I [Eb] won't have no place to stay. _
_ _ _ _ _ _ Mr.
[Ab] Charlie, _ _ _ _ _ _ I won't have [Eb] no place to stay. _ _
_ [Ab] _ [Eb] _ _ _ Mr.
Charlie said, [Bb] Son, don't you worry.
_ [Ab] _ _ [Eb] I got a home for you long as you live.
[D] _ [Ebm] _ _ [Abm] _ [Eb] _ _ _ [Db] _ [Eb] _ _ [Db] _ _
_ [Eb] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [N] _ _ _